A few interesting birds - Jubail

A trip to Jubail recently resulted in a good collection of birds. Many winter visitors are now back and a few late migrants are still moving so anticipation was hgh for something good. Although nothing too exciting turned up I did see a few good birds. Western Cattle Egret is not recorded so often in Jubail so three birds together was interesting. They occur commonly in Dhahran but not so in Jubail to the north. A few winter species were present including Watr Pipit, Daurian Shrike, Greater Spotted Eagle, Gadwall and Pintail. Desert Wheatear is common in the surrounding areas of desert but not seen often in Jubail itself so a nice male was a good record. Waders included Dunlin, Wood Sandpipers and Little Stint. The resident Grey-headed Swamphen were about in good numbers as were Squacco Heron which probably breed in the area but are certainly winter visitors as numbers build up in November and December.

Western Cattle Egret

Daurian Shrike

Desert Wheatear

Dunlin

Gadwall

Little Stint

Squacco Heron

Squacco Heron

Gadwalls, Mallards, Northern Shovellers, Garganey, Ferruginous Ducks and Grebes – Dhahran Hills

The percolation pond was full of ducks a week ago but then they almost all disappeared. On 12 December a few ducks had returned but they were very different in composition to the ones that had been there previously. I counted 40 Gadwalls which is the highest count by far I have had on the ‘patch’ of this species. Also with them were three Garganey, three Ferruginous Ducks and two Northern Shovellers. Also with the duck were a large number of Little Grebes and five Black-necked Grebes, the largest count of this species I have seen on the patch as well. It looks like winter may prove to be good this year after a slightly disappointing autumn. I also saw four Little Egrets and a Squacco Heron on the pond but these have been around for several weeks along with two Western Marsh Harriers and a Gull-billed Tern. As it was the weekend I got to the pond when the light was reasonable and therefore managed to get a few photos of them.

Gadwall

Gadwall, Northern Shoveller & Garganey

Gadwall & Garganey

Gadwall

Gadwall

Gadwall

Mallard

Little Grebe

Black-necked Grebe

Black-necked Grebes on the pond – Dhahran Hills

A visit to the ‘patch’ on 7 November to help show Lou, a birder from Riyadh, Common Pochard and Gadwall, two new species for him in Saudi Arabia proved to be quite good. When I arrived I found all the duck from the last few days still in place and also a Black-necked Grebe quite close to the edge. After some time it was joined by a second bird. This is only the second time I have seen the species on the ‘patch’ with the first being on the settling pond. Duck numbers remained high with plenty of Common Pochard, Ferruginous Duck and Northern Shoveler. A single Pintail, one Tufted Duck, two Gadwall and two Eurasian Wigeon were also present. Other birds of note included five Little Egrets, two White-winged Terns, a Gull-billed Tern and a flyover flock of about twenty Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters. Two Clamorous Reed Warblers were also seen in the reeds and the first five Great Cormorants of the winter flew in to roost. The only waders seen were five Black-winged Stilts and three Ruff.

Black-necked Grebe

Common Pochard

Gadwall

White-winged Tern

Great Cormorant

Ducks – Dhahran Hills

There were plenty of ducks on the percolation pond yesterday with the eight Gadwall still around. These birds have been on the pond for most of the winter and comprise three males and five females. Eurasian Wigeon have also been present for a few weeks but numbers vary widely from single birds to a group of almost 30, with nine present this time. Northern Shoveler are often very common but numbers have been less this winter even though it has been a very good winter for duck. Five birds were present with the other duck. I thought this was a good count, but just as I was leaving eight Eurasian Teal flew and joined the gathering. Eurasian Coot numbers appear to be increasing but common Moorhen numbers remain low.

Gadwall

Eurasian Wigeons

Northern Shoveler

Northern Shoveler

Northern Shoveler